diff --git a/packages/next-intl/.size-limit.ts b/packages/next-intl/.size-limit.ts
index ed9dac2c8..1ef0f0e13 100644
--- a/packages/next-intl/.size-limit.ts
+++ b/packages/next-intl/.size-limit.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ const config: SizeLimitConfig = [
     name: "import {createSharedPathnamesNavigation} from 'next-intl/navigation' (react-server)",
     path: 'dist/production/navigation.react-server.js',
     import: '{createSharedPathnamesNavigation}',
-    limit: '16.795 KB'
+    limit: '16.825 KB'
   },
   {
     name: "import {createLocalizedPathnamesNavigation} from 'next-intl/navigation' (react-server)",
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ const config: SizeLimitConfig = [
     name: "import {createNavigation} from 'next-intl/navigation' (react-server)",
     path: 'dist/production/navigation.react-server.js',
     import: '{createNavigation}',
-    limit: '16.8 KB'
+    limit: '16.815 KB'
   },
   {
     name: "import * from 'next-intl/server' (react-client)",
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ const config: SizeLimitConfig = [
     name: "import * from 'next-intl' (react-client, ESM)",
     path: 'dist/esm/index.react-client.js',
     import: '*',
-    limit: '14.245 kB'
+    limit: '14.345 kB'
   },
   {
     name: "import {NextIntlProvider} from 'next-intl' (react-client, ESM)",
diff --git a/packages/next-intl/src/react-client/useLocale.tsx b/packages/next-intl/src/react-client/useLocale.tsx
index 1b4f4f98f..2c21738a7 100644
--- a/packages/next-intl/src/react-client/useLocale.tsx
+++ b/packages/next-intl/src/react-client/useLocale.tsx
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ import {useParams} from 'next/navigation';
 import {useLocale as useBaseLocale} from 'use-intl/_useLocale';
 import {LOCALE_SEGMENT_NAME} from '../shared/constants';
 
+let hasWarnedForParams = false;
+
 export default function useLocale(): string {
   // The types aren't entirely correct here. Outside of Next.js
   // `useParams` can be called, but the return type is `null`.
@@ -16,6 +18,12 @@ export default function useLocale(): string {
     locale = useBaseLocale();
   } catch (error) {
     if (typeof params?.[LOCALE_SEGMENT_NAME] === 'string') {
+      if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production' && !hasWarnedForParams) {
+        console.warn(
+          'Deprecation warning: `useLocale` has returned a default from `useParams().locale` since no `NextIntlClientProvider` ancestor was found for the calling component. This behavior will be removed in the next major version. Please ensure all Client Components that use `next-intl` are wrapped in a `NextIntlClientProvider`.'
+        );
+        hasWarnedForParams = true;
+      }
       locale = params[LOCALE_SEGMENT_NAME];
     } else {
       throw error;
diff --git a/packages/next-intl/src/server/react-server/getConfig.tsx b/packages/next-intl/src/server/react-server/getConfig.tsx
index a5fbbe326..08d5e48ae 100644
--- a/packages/next-intl/src/server/react-server/getConfig.tsx
+++ b/packages/next-intl/src/server/react-server/getConfig.tsx
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import {getRequestLocale as getRequestLocaleLegacy} from './RequestLocaleLegacy'
 import createRequestConfig from './createRequestConfig';
 import {GetRequestConfigParams} from './getRequestConfig';
 
+let hasWarnedForMissingReturnedLocale = false;
+
 // Make sure `now` is consistent across the request in case none was configured
 function getDefaultNowImpl() {
   return new Date();
@@ -64,15 +66,28 @@ See also: https://next-intl-docs.vercel.app/docs/usage/configuration#i18n-reques
     result = await result;
   }
 
-  const locale = result.locale || (await params.requestLocale);
+  let locale = result.locale;
 
   if (!locale) {
-    if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
+    if (
+      !hasWarnedForMissingReturnedLocale &&
+      process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production'
+    ) {
       console.error(
-        `\nUnable to find \`next-intl\` locale because the middleware didn't run on this request and no \`locale\` was returned in \`getRequestConfig\`. See https://next-intl-docs.vercel.app/docs/routing/middleware#unable-to-find-locale. The \`notFound()\` function will be called as a result.\n`
+        `\nA \`locale\` is expected to be returned from \`getRequestConfig\`, but none was returned. This will be an error in the next major version of next-intl.\n\nSee: https://next-intl-docs.vercel.app/blog/next-intl-3-22#await-request-locale\n`
       );
+      hasWarnedForMissingReturnedLocale = true;
+    }
+
+    locale = await params.requestLocale;
+    if (!locale) {
+      if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
+        console.error(
+          `\nUnable to find \`next-intl\` locale because the middleware didn't run on this request and no \`locale\` was returned in \`getRequestConfig\`. See https://next-intl-docs.vercel.app/docs/routing/middleware#unable-to-find-locale. The \`notFound()\` function will be called as a result.\n`
+        );
+      }
+      notFound();
     }
-    notFound();
   }
 
   return {
diff --git a/packages/next-intl/src/server/react-server/getRequestConfig.tsx b/packages/next-intl/src/server/react-server/getRequestConfig.tsx
index 127656ff5..1229470f9 100644
--- a/packages/next-intl/src/server/react-server/getRequestConfig.tsx
+++ b/packages/next-intl/src/server/react-server/getRequestConfig.tsx
@@ -2,14 +2,7 @@ import type {IntlConfig} from 'use-intl/core';
 
 export type RequestConfig = Omit<IntlConfig, 'locale'> & {
   /**
-   * Instead of reading a `requestLocale` from the argument that's passed to the
-   * function within `getRequestConfig`, you can include a locale as part of the
-   * returned request configuration.
-   *
-   * This can be helpful for the following use cases:
-   * - Apps that only support a single language
-   * - Apps where the locale should be read from user settings instead of the pathname
-   * - Providing a fallback locale in case the locale was not matched by the middleware
+   * @see https://next-intl-docs.vercel.app/docs/usage/configuration#i18n-request
    **/
   locale?: IntlConfig['locale'];
 };